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The first League match against Lansdown B team was a disappointing affair partly because it was a match that I was counting on winning and partly because we were let down at the very last minute and had to travel with just the eleven men. In fact, it would have been far worse if Matt Andrew had not filled in at the last minute - thanks Matt. The match report sent to the press is as follows - read between the lines!

Late withdrawals from the selected squad meant that Lydney 2nd XI had to travel to Lansdown for their first League fixture with no substitutes. This was to cost them dear as players wilted in the heat of the afternoon.
A well-contested and even first half saw chances missed at either end before Lansdown slotted their first goal past a much-improved Chris Moulinie in the Lydney goal. Lydney's reply was quick in coming, James Howell's sweetly struck reverse stick shot giving just rewards to his side, whose midfield were working tremendously hard to establish a measure of superiority.
With the half time score at 1 - 1, Lydney were counting on the older players in the opposition team running out of steam during the second half. However, it was the depleted Lydney squad that suffered more in the heat. With no opportunity to use substitutes to give respite, Lydney were soon struggling to hold some fast and determined runs from the Lansdown forwards. The lack of cohesion and pace in the Lydney defence were exposed and Lansdown added three further goals before Luke Andrew, unanimously voted man of the match for the second week running, struck the goal of the game, which went into the goal off the post and still burst the net!
The squad has much to do to improve its defensive effectiveness before next week's match against Cheltenham at Whitecross School.

I had forgotten to enter the match reports each week on the wiki, so apologies!!! Here is the report for 21/11/09 - do you notice any common threads? I'll input others from the past as I find them, starting with our first victory last week.

With a starting line up showing seven changes from the previous winning week, Lydney mens' 2nd XI travelled to Sherborne knowing that they would have a tough job on their hands. Their cause was not helped by one withdrawal from the chosen eleven that was so very late in the day that it allowed no time to organise a replacement.
The final score of 7 - 0 in favour of the opposition was a fair reflection of the number of chances created by the two teams, but it does not give enough credit to the efforts of the ten Lydney players, eight of whom were once again under 19 years of age. The ten men tackled and harried the opposition increasingly effectively as the game wore on, allowing fewer and fewer chances on goal and winning a growing number of free hits and penalty corners in attacking positions. Nonetheless, the play was largely one way and, but for the many spectacular saves and the heroic efforts of man-of-the-match Kieron Osell in the Lydney goal, the defeat would have been much heavier.
It speaks volumes for the character of this young side that every individual continues to put in maximum effort week after week and each shows many signs of significant improvement in skills, fitness and game-awareness, which bodes well for the future of the team and the Club.

It also did not help that we had two yellow cards in the second half, reducing us to nine men. The opposition were a strange mix of extreme sportsmanship, owning up to feet and deflections that the umpires had not seen, and equally extreme verbal goading of individuals. Perhaps it's a man thing fuelled by testosterone - thank God for old age!

The praise for the youngsters is well deserved. What character they show to come back each week for more defeats in the scoreline tempered by small individual victories on the pitch! Well done lads!



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DavidPenney
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DavidPenney Training 0 Aug 5 2009, 6:26 AM EDT by DavidPenney
Thread started: Aug 5 2009, 6:26 AM EDT  Watch
Targets for the season? Winning more than we draw and lose; playing good hockey and working as a close-knot squad; keeping eleven players on the pitch all the time (!); shaking hands with the Umpires at the end, whatever our or their performance has looked and felt like, and then going back to our new Club house (the Cricket Club) as a full squad to enjoy entertaining the, hopefully beaten, opposition. To do this, we must be fit enough to outlast the opposition and skilful enough to run rings around them.

SO: Brush off your sticks, wash those socks that have been in your bag since last April and see if you can still put one foot in front of another! Training for the new season starts in earnest on Thursday 13th August (no coincidence that!). It would be good to see as many as possible along at the first session, which STARTS at 8.15. We are on after the Badgers, and must allow them their full session by not knocking about on the pitch until they have finished.



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DavidPenney Fixtures for the coming season 0 Jul 15 2009, 5:31 AM EDT by DavidPenney
Thread started: Jul 15 2009, 5:31 AM EDT  Watch

LYDNEY ‘A’ – FIXTURES 2009 – 2010

Saturday 26th Sep 2009 Lansdown B v Lydney A @ Bournside School


Saturday 3rd Oct 2009 Lydney A v Cheltenham C @ Whitecross


Saturday 10th Oct 2009 Newent A v Lydney A @ Newent Community School


Saturday 17th Oct 2009 Lydney A v Ross-on-Wye @ Whitecross


Saturday 24th Oct 2009 14:00 Stroud A v Lydney A @ Stratford Park Leisure Centre


Saturday 31st Oct 2009 Lydney A v Cirencester A @ Whitecross


Saturday 7th Nov 2009 Hereford A v Lydney A @ Hereford Leisure Centre


Saturday 14th Nov 2009 Lydney A v Leominster A @ Whitecross


Saturday 21st Nov 2009 Sherborne v Lydney A @ Bourton Leisure Centre


Saturday 28th Nov 2009 Lydney A v Gloucester City B @ Whitecross


Saturday 5th Dec 2009 Lansdown A v Lydney A @ Bournside School


Saturday 12th Dec 2009 Lydney A v Lansdown B @ Whitecross


Saturday 16th Jan 2010 Cheltenham C v Lydney A @ Balcarras School


Saturday 23rd Jan 2010 Lydney A v Newent A @ Whitecross


Saturday 30th Jan 2010 Ross-on-Wye v Lydney A @ Monmouth Boys School


Saturday 6th Feb 2010 Lydney A v Stroud A @ Whitecross


Saturday 13th Feb 2010 Cirencester A v Lydney A @ Deer Park School


Saturday 20th Feb 2010 Lydney A v Hereford A @ Whitecross


Saturday 27th Feb 2010 Leominster A v Lydney A @ Bridge Street Sports Park


Saturday 6th Mar 2010 Lydney A v Sherborne @ Whitecross


Saturday 13th Mar 2010 Gloucester City B v Lydney A @ St Peters Rc High School


Saturday 20th Mar 2010 Lydney A v Lansdown A @ Whitecross

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